Kayak work stands

I needed to have a stand to work on my boats. Up until now I have been leaving my boat on the Hullavator lowered down beside the doors and washing and waxing my boats that way. Unfortunately it meant I always missed a spot where the ties and cradles are.

I wanted a higher functioning stand. I looked at this: Kayak Stand, Talic Sea Horse 31" tall kayak stand

But the reviews say it's hard to put a boat on it by yourself. Also, I can tell it would be unlikely that I would be able to flip the boat over easily. In fact every set of stands that are a pair had the same darned complaint written about them.

When we picked up the Whisky we examined this much heavier duty stand but I was unable to locate one to buy. I suspect it's an item designed for a retail store, not a home enthusiast.

And there's this low tech approach. But it would leave me hunched over the boat. Again it might be difficult to get the boat on the "stands" alone and nigh impossible to turn over alone:

So I asked the husband if he would build me one. I showed him the ones on the web that were for sell. I explained what I wanted. To my surprise one materialized almost the instant his new Whisky came home. 

It was clear the demo-ed boat had been stored outside by the shop that had owned it. It was grimy in a way that only happens when a boat is left outside for a long time, say, a couple of years.

So here's James's take on a boat stand:

It folds flat and so stores easily in our crowded garage. It holds my 17 foot plus Solstice easily. As I scrubbed my boat I didn't need to hold it down or prevent it from tumbling off the stable stand. I was able to flip my boat over and scrub the under side, drain the soapy water from the cockpit, reach every nook and cranny...Okay, I'm impressed. I love the stand. It makes me want to wax all my boats. I told him we should look into producing it for our boat-crazy friends.

Scratch that last statement about the Sirocco

Today I had two epiphanies about my Sirocco.

A preface first: Friday morning I had lifted my arms to braid my hair and I felt something in the left shoulder catch. I couldn't raise it or lower it. I ended up pulling the arm up with my other hand and felt a massive "pop" and incredible pain swept all over, like an electric shock, down to my toes even. My eyes teared up and I briefly thought I was going to either fall down, or barf, or both. This morning I woke up and had almost no pain. Elation!

Also Friday, before a giant sucking sound was heard from my wallet during a dental appointment, I took the Sirocco out to practice ruddering and braces. I am a bit fond of the boat. I have gotten comfortable laying the boat over and gently righting it, using a low brace, without jerking it or feeling alarmed by the lack of push-back.

Then, with an eye towards that class next weekend, I took it out into the windy chop of Belmont Bay today, with my husband in his Gulfstream. I remembered how well it handled the rollers down in the Keys. And it did again. But with a more discerning eye today I realized that while it climbs rollers well, when one turns the boat around and the seas are "following," that great performance disappears. The swells sweep around the boat, not lifting it or allowing one to "catch the wave," the way my Necky Elias does.

Instead, the boat was constantly working to turn broad beam to the waves. I think most boats will try to do that anyway more or less. The Sirocco is a long and heavy boat, turning it back straight took a lot of work. Ah so. Turning the shorter lighter Eli back takes a stroke or two at most. I want to take the best boat for the class. I worry if I am working so hard to keep the boat going straight that I will have less opportunity to learn the other skills I will be offered.

Leaving the water today I was already leaning away from taking the Sirocco. James helped me carry the boat over to the car and nestle it into the Hullavator cradles. I tied it down and then started lifting it. The Hullavator doesn't pop up with the Sirocco in the cradles, it is too heavy. So I have to lift the boat up on my fore arms, and then change the position of my hands half way up and continue lifting the boat. That's when I had the second epiphany: My left shoulder was struck by searing pain. Holy cow! I thought back, oh my goodness...my shoulder started getting *really* bad right after I bought this really heavy boat.

The Solstice weighs 48 pounds per the Current Designs website. That boat pops up in the Hullavator cradles so fast and easy it's disconcerting. Almost as though the boat is going to keep right on going, catapulting away. The Eli goes up with a bit more work, it weighs 56 pounds per the Necky website. Now, the CD website says the Sirocco only weighs 60 pounds. I just don't believe it. The Eli feels at least 10 pounds lighter, both in my hands and on the Hullavator, than the Sirocco. Brian suggested it would be worth weighing my boat sometime. I think my bathroom scales and I have a date with my boats. More on that to follow.

Ah, right, St Patrick's Day

Funny how we Americans can turn anything into a drinking day. I myself don't participate. Another amateur night.

Today we give a formal goodbye to our friend, Trish. We'll drive through the fresh snow and ice to get to upper Maryland where she lived. I remember right after James and I moved into our new house that Drew and Trish moved into their new house. James drove through another big snow storm to help them move. And now we will say goodbye.

I know, from losing Pat, that there is no final goodbye; that one says goodbye to their lost one over and over. I still think of him often and hug his memory.

I changed my club's header and background. They now reflect Florida. This makes me happy.

Life has moved on. It's strange how the little things become routine, and routines give life texture. My connections to my friends, our boats and the water help pull me through; dragging me along when I am down and lifting me high when life is good.

I had my first week-day club paddle on March 4th. Only Deke and I showed up. That's okay, it's real early in the season and a lot of the paddlers don't own even a wet suit. We found ice on the Occoquan Reservoir. I tried to break through with my "war horse", the Sirocco, but eventually the ice started growing too thick for even that boat's weight combined with mine to break. Plus my carbon paddle was skipping and I didn't want to chip it. Pansy.

selfie 3-12-14

Oh, this is a scary picture. But I like it at the same time. I'm wearing the hat I bought in Hawaii. It's getting a little ragged and stained. Seemed fitting for the warmest day yet this winter. It was hot in all that equipment. "Dress for immersion," and then you get heat stroke.

Camera still giving me fits but I finally decided to attach it on a shorter lanyard so it doesn't chance a dip in the drink. I am also storing it up high on paddles, tucking it into my bra area of my Astral Bella vest. So far, so good.

Last Saturday I talked some club members into trying a launch we've never done before. I didn't have to do much convincing. New water, new bird reserve...OMG. This is my new favorite launch for the next few months until the southbound beach traffic makes it impossible to get there.

We launched from a sandy beach into Aquia Creek, headed out into the Potomac around Marlborough Point and then into Accokeek Creek. The whole trip out was a series of rights, about 6.25 miles. We found hundreds of tundra swans resting in the back reaches of the creek. Bald eagles, returning Osprey, many water birds.

credit Darrick 2014

credit Darrick 2014

Above we gathered on the beach with our motley crew of boats, Darrick is missing as he is standing in the water taking the shot. I brought my Necky Elias, and that's Darrick's sturdy blue Wilderness Tsunami next to my sunburst play boat. The "Eli" is my shortest sea kayak at 15'8". It has a rudder that works dependably but the old style rudder pedals are a bit of a bummer. I keep thinking I'll switch them out but I keep forgetting to order the kit. Maybe now I will remember.

The Eli is always my choice for new water that might get big, and sh*t yeah the big P can jump up and roar, plus I never worry about squeezing the Eli into tight spaces or pulling "him" over branches that block some of the tighter creeks we wander into.

The trip out the water was sweet and relatively smooth. The day was as bright and warm as a late winter day can be here in NoVa.

Baldies! So many I joked you "can't throw a rock without hitting one!"

This osprey is working on building a nest, alternately, it's harassing the pair of baldies that were in the tree right next door making racket until they flew off. The Osprey just maintained it's position, coolly watching us from it's height.

Dennis and the swans taking flight

Above is my favorite picture from the trip. I often try to photograph my friends as they shoot their own pictures. Those are some of the hundreds of tundra swans we spotted.

On the trip back the wind was blowing a steady 15 mph or so, shoving us hard backwards. This also meant we had big sets of rollers to climb. Now, this is exactly the kind of thing I'm keen on, and the Eli handles this well. So I didn't take any photos, I literally had my paddle blown out of my hand twice while trying to reach for the camera. After the second time I gave up and "just paddled."

Woohoo! It was a great day.

Lastly, my friend Indiana Jones, patiently waiting for me to start running again. And so I have. The knee I busted up in the Keys in early January is finally somewhat better. It ached after I ran/walked 5 miles yesterday. I iced it a bit and hobbled off happily to bed.

The Lorax got the moniker "run silent, runs deep"

But I'm not sure how deep my husband's thoughts run. After all, as he doesn't have much to say I really haven't any idea. After I wrote this I was back on our club's website and I saw someone had changed his nickname to "Thor," which made sense and made me laugh at the same time. Maybe an apt name for my blonde wild-haired husband in the Swedish boat with the Thor's hammer around his neck, and the dog he named Thorvald.

He has had a hard week. He's been quieter than normal. We are both a little emotionally wrung out for the last few weeks.

Tor is worried that the "nugget of evil" will steal his favorite person from him

Even though I have for the most part left the SCA behind I couldn't help but put this sticker on my car. I *think* it was a sticker suggesting a bike helmet but I'm with Bike Snob NYC. The helmet doesn't make you any safer and it encourages car drivers to treat the wearer like they are Lance or something. But fighting helmets, yeah, those are sexy!

It's the middle of the night and I can't sleep. I often have trouble sleeping after 2 am. I keep meaning to stay awake until 11 to see if I might sleep through until 0530, but I always crash and burn somewhere around 9 pm.

I've gone out at least a dozen times since I last made an entry here. I still don't have a reliable camera and so am not really taking many photos. I miss it.

This last Friday morning we four gals found ice crusts ringing Pohick Bay. It was 23 degrees, over cast and windy when we put in. It was 45 and sunny when we finally gave up. Literally the sun broke through the clouds as we loaded up. Doh.

I took my Elias out the last couple of paddles. I remember it being light and nimble, and so it is. It's a nice little sea kayak. I think I'll take it to roll class tonite.

Trish, Drew, and Lynn at our wedding in 2008

I want to always remember Trish laughing. She looked great at our wedding and her own with Drew a week later. She was killed in a car wreck last Saturday. I am stunned. But my husband is having the hardest time. Drew and Trish were a huge part of his life during his obsessive rock climbing years. Trish will be forever missed.

The last week has cruised by at light speed

The cold air makes being out on the water all the more magical. It is unknown to me why, but this is a fact I have confirmed with many other paddlers. Maybe it is the absence of many power boats, or the quiet that feels more profound as it settles across the water; what ever, it is felt, whether "real" or not.

Fountainhead's fall magic, credit Kat Ecott 2013

Maybe this is my Stargate

Speaking of magic, in my last post I featured a couple of shots of the two unusual white tail does we witnessed frolicking next to the reservoir. The day after Kat posted this:  "The white deer is sacred to the Chickasaw. They believe that if you see one it is a sign that you are on a path leading to tremendous growth and fulfillment. Cool!"

Credit Kat Ecott 2013

I am, and have been, full of magic and growth. It's not important to me that other people perceive magic, mine, or the planet's. Every magical thing to me is kept forever in the quiet center of my existence. Every person I meet who spends time considering life, art, magic, love with me lives there.

Speaking of magic, my pal Phil really gets it. I am so proud of him, that he has stayed true to his dream all along.

Brian asked me if I am married to my boat? I replied that I feel like the Solstice has a whole lot of potential and is challenging me to rise. I recognize it's a difficult boat due to its length and soft soft chines. But the difficulty in handling it gives me room to grow. It is part of my story now. Yeah, I guess I am a bit mated to her.

Mist-bow at Fountainhead

My ride

The friends I have made in the last few years, the ones who know me, really know me, have become part of my story as well. I have so much happiness, so much love for my friends. They are kind people; I have finally come to a place in my life where I am surrounded by good people.

I had to love myself for this to happen.

Credit Hector 2013

My husband is one of these good good people, my grumpy curmudgeon prickly-haired Lorax. How the heck did I come to such a good place?

the Lorax on a 3 dog morning

I am an official Paddle-Bum now and I couldn't be more pleased

Got called a paddle-bum yesterday, not once but twice. Husband says "I was a surf-bum when I was a kid. But now I'm all grown up and responsible."(scowls at me) and I cheerfully say "well then, I am reverse aging! I am finally getting to enjoy my childhood!"


Paddle-bum is not an insult, it was more like an honorific. That's Lady Paddle-Bum to you sir!

I am enjoying my second childhood. I have reached some strange age or wisdom, where, in spite of my health, my fitness is increasing and I just can't be unhappy for any period longer than say 10 minutes.

I have been slow to edit my photos but here are a few. I have seen some pretty amazing things while on the water recently. I watched a bald eagle chase an osprey for at least 5 minutes trying to get a fish away from the smaller bird. He could have gotten his own meal in the same five minutes. I saw thick mist rising from the water on a still morning at dawn and then paddled through it. I found that I am able to make a 0730 put-in, when I haven't been able to function that early in the morning in years. I watched a pair of hawks circling each other and then landing in a tree in apparent harmony. And I have been slow to get the camera out instead emphasizing living in each moment without bothering to try and catch them digitally.

White and reindeer colored white tail does with Kat in the foreground

Last of the fall color at the Great Marsh, Mason Neck, Virginia

Just an interesting shot of a pair of paddlers from our One-Way Pohick to Mason Neck trip

Becky and some crows

Due to my camera's quirks this shot came out oddly colored and over-exposed. This is, I am pretty sure, Pete.

Feeling stronger by the moment

My chiropractor, Dr Chow, discharged me from weekly Active Release Therapy (ART) two Fridays ago. I am so grateful. It has been a long road. I think I need to send him a fruit basket or chocolate, or whatever it is that a man would prefer. My man would prefer an Ibex gift certificate or maybe new hammer, yeah, he collects hammers. Don't ask...

I saw my orthopedic surgeon, Dr Parker, a few days later and he was astounded! He said he almost couldn't believe I am the same patient. He mentioned my thinner legs, muscle tone, weight loss... That's some pretty flattering stuff. And yeah, I have worked really hard to get here.

He suggested that I return to Dr Chow if I start feeling stiff or creaky. But really I am feeling great! I have to add that working part time has been a big part of my recovery. I am finally getting the extra rest I apparently needed so desperately. It just seems like I've been on a downward spiral ever since 2000 or so. I've had minor ups but mostly just slowly down down down. Now I finally feel like I am going back up. There really isn't any way for me to express how good this feels; how amazing and unexpected.

I am still paddling. I had purchased various combinations of wet and dry suit pieces last spring when they went on end of season sale. I was prepared to keep paddling when the water temp fell. The trees are so lovely this time of year. My friend Kat is correct that this time of year the Occoquan Reservoir shines. And here are some photos to illustrate it:

We met right at dawn on Monday the 28th October

We both had a shutterbug frenzy of trying to capture the lovely light upon the misty water

One of my best of batch

The sky also cooperated. Everything was so perfect, one of those mornings that remind me why I exist.

We both chose our Necky boats that morning. My Elias is my most stable sea kayak and her Eliza is simply her favorite boat.

Fall Equinox, Part 3

Well, it took me nearly 10 days to get back and finish talking about this one weekend. But sometimes I need to digest experiences. Ruminate, as it were. The most profound thoughts take a while, and honestly, I'm just not that good at expressing myself. Culmination: I realized I missed talking about the wonderful social experience I had that weekend.

In between the paddling (which was plentiful) we hung around with the various members of different reenactment family groups. Many of these people have known me for the better part of my life. Whether they realize it or not, we have "grown up" together. Largely these groups are involved in Iron Age reenactment. But the family feeling has grown quite extensive and some members hold and attend private weekend events, like this one, without ever attending the larger true reenactments.

As I've been absent for the better part of 7 years from all but a few classic SCA events a year, I have missed the smaller family style events. Between the recent Pennsic, women's crafting days, and camping events, I have reconnected with many of the people from my younger days. It has been a real pleasure for me to find them all again. Quite an experience to see where life has taken them, and how they have changed, knowing that I have grown and changed as well.

I have rarely had such a pleasurable time amongst "my people." It turns out I really CAN go home again. And so I have.

But like Steeleye said, when we sat down to visit one last time after helping him clean up "you came for the water, all these other people just came for the view." Yeah, I came for the water; the river. I can never imagine a future life without her. As much as I would like to move south into a warmer environment, I cannot shake the feeling that I would be unhappy without her.

I just read recently that when people move more than 50 miles from their original home their "happiness quotient" falls by something like 30%. As I grew up an Army brat I don't have, and never did, an original home. So I guess that's what the Potomac is for me, my home. As a water baby, competitive swimmer, and now paddler, water has always been central to my life and none more so than this river. From her North Fork on the South Branch, the backdrop for our new-couple's first get-away to where I find myself today, making plans to paddle with Brian tomorrow, she is the river running through my life.

Forgive my nostalgia, at least a bit.

Seneca Rocks, WV

The North Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac River

Our quiver for the weekend, Coltons Point MD

Me-Crossing the rocks on St Clements Island to go explore (credit Kat Ecott 2013)

My camera was malfunctioning but I did manage this shot of the lighthouse with the 40 foot cross in the background

My friends waiting for me to join them in rescue practice before we packed up for the trip home